15-04-2025
Never fall for an online scam
From scams to digital house arrests, the Internet and cyberspace are teeming with fraudsters. Not a day goes by without newspaper headlines or stories shared by victims about their experiences with scams.
Recently, a 70-year-old retiree posted on Facebook after losing all his hard-earned savings, 'It makes me mad. I'm mad at the scammer, but I'm also mad at myself for believing the scammer.'
It all began in January when he received a web of lies through a WhatsApp call, seemingly from men posing as officials from the crime department. The scammers' attire convinced him that they were real officers. They accused him of serious financial misappropriation and informed him that he was under 'house arrest".
The scammers promised to release him within 24 hours and claimed he could avoid jail time by complying with their demands. They instructed him to transfer money to the accounts they provided and did not permit him to consult his relatives. Terrified by escalating threats, he transferred $21,000.
'I had to let it go because it almost drove me to consider suicide until I realised it was just money. My life would be so much better if I still had it, but it is gone. I feel ruined,' he wrote in his note.
This is not an isolated incident. Recently, there has been a surge in digital arrest scams, where fraudsters impersonate law enforcement officials during video calls, threaten victims with arrest over fabricated charges, and pressure them to transfer large sums of money. This trend has been particularly prevalent in India.
'Digital arrest is one of the most horrendous forms of scams, as fraudsters remotely place victims under false arrest and extort large sums of money based on fictitious charges. Investment schemes, shopping scams and cryptocurrency fraud have also emerged as prevalent methods for defrauding individuals in India this year,' reported the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre.
According to the Veriff Fraud Report 2025, impersonation fraud continues to be the most common form of online fraud, representing 82.47 per cent of all fraud cases in 2024. This method entails using stolen or falsified identity information to impersonate another individual, often aided by counterfeit documents.
"Although impersonation fraud experienced a slight decline compared to 2022, it remains a significant threat. Businesses must continue to invest in robust identity verification systems that can detect document tampering, synthetic identities and suspicious patterns," the report states.
In its 2024 Global State of Scams report, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance revealed that scammers have siphoned over $1.03 trillion globally in the past year - a figure that rivals the GDP of some nations.
'Despite relentless efforts to combat scam activity through awareness campaigns, scams continue to pose a significant and growing threat, with nearly half of global consumers experiencing a scam attempt at least once a week,' stated the report prepared in collaboration with Feedzai.
In its annual report to shareholders, FirstBank stated that although phishing has long been a favourite tool for cybercriminals, in 2024, attackers elevated their tactics by incorporating artificial intelligence.
"AI-driven phishing scams became more convincing; with criminals leveraging machine learning algorithms to generate e-mails, texts and voice messages that closely mimicked the writing style and tone of individuals the victim knew. These highly personalised attacks often deceived even the most vigilant recipients, leading to significant financial losses and data breaches," the bank revealed.
NatWest's research, which combines industry data with a national survey of 2,000 British adults, highlights the emerging and evolving types of scams in 2024. A total of £570 million was reported stolen by scammers in the first half of 2024.
According to the research, young adults aged between 18 and 24 were the most targeted this year, with 55 per cent approached by scammers in the last 12 months and 60 per cent either experiencing financial loss themselves or knowing someone who has. In contrast, among those over 65, only 15 per cent are aware of either themselves or someone they know losing money to a scam.
The writer is a freelance journalist and author who worked in Oman and India
